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Oregon’s unemployment rate spiked to the highest level ever seen in April, according to data released Tuesday by the Oregon Employment Department.

The April unemployment rate in Oregon jumped to 14.2%, up from 3.3% in March.

In the recession of 2010, the unemployment rate jumped about 6 percentage points, but that was over a period of two years.

“This is an increase of 10% in one month. There’s nothing to compare it to,” said Kevin Furey, a professor of economics at Chemeketa Community College.

Most of the 266,600 job losses in April were attributed to businesses being shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Looking back to even just the beginning of this year can really show how dramatic of an impact this pandemic has had. In January and February of 2020, Oregon had a record low unemployment rate of 3.3%,” said Anna Johnson, senior economic analyst for the Oregon Employment Department.

“The increase in the unemployment rate in April from March is a historic jump from month to month. There is really no true historical comparison to what we’re experiencing right now, but during the Great Recession, which was about two years, Oregon lost about 150,000 jobs.”

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New unemployment claims data from the Oregon Employment Department shows continued fallout from the coronavirus pandemic on the state's economy.(Photo: Statesman Journal file)

Oregon’s unemployment rates date back to 1976.

The monthly unemployment rate in Oregon is based on a person’s employment status for the week that includes the 12th of each month, for April that being April 12 through 18.

Oregon’s unemployment rate peaked at 11.9% in the Great Recession in 2010.

“Already this is the deepest recession on record in Oregon, with data going back to 1939,” state economist Josh Lehner wrote.

There have been 36 million initial unemployment claims since the COVID-19 pandemic impacted businesses in the United States in March.

Nationally, the unemployment rate increased to 14.7% in April, according to the United States Department of Labor.

That’s up from 4.5% in March and 3.5% in February.

The highest U.S. unemployment rate was 24.9% during the Great Depression in 1933. During the Great Recession, the peak was 10% in October 2009.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated the unemployment rate could go past 25% due to the pandemic in an interview that aired Sunday on 60 Minutes.

Furey said with the businesses in many counties in Oregon being allowed to reopen with restrictions, the unemployment rate for May could go down, but the bigger fear is for it to go up again in the long-term if businesses close for good.

“The bigger question to me is where is it going to be six months from now, a year from now, a year and a half from now,” Furey said. “For that, there’s a lot of moving parts. We could see a lot of businesses going out of business.

“Right now, it’s an unemployment rate caused by a shutdown of an economy. If we were to open up and get back to the old unemployment numbers, everything would be back to normal.”